President Michel Suleiman hoped on Saturday for the return of stability to Syria and expressed his confidence in the Assad regime’s ability to overcome the crisis.

Suleiman made the remark during talks with the Secretary-General of the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council, Nasri Khoury.

Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Kamel al-Rifai stated on Friday that the government formation process is underway even though Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati is adopting a cautious approach in the matter.

He told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency: “Efforts are being made to overcome the obstacles that were hindering his progress.”

President Michel Suleiman held talks on Friday with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and former Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir at the Baabda palace.

The president congratulated al-Rahi for his election, commending Sfeir’s tenure as patriarch for 25 years and awarding him the Order of the Cedars.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati reportedly met with President Michel Suleiman on Thursday night, the same day he sent his brother Taha and nephew Azmi to Damascus.

An Nahar daily said Friday that the Miqati-Suleiman meeting took place at the president’s residence and not his office. As for the envoys that Miqati sent to Syria, well-informed sources told As Safir newspaper that Taha and Azmi Miqati held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Thursday the importance of Syria’s stability on the economic and security situation in both Syria and Lebanon.

Visitors of the Baabda Palace reported him as expressing a hope that the situation in the Arab state would return to normal in order for it to resume its reform plans.

President Michel Suleiman commended on Wednesday the security forces’ efforts in trying to uncover the sides behind the abduction of the seven Estonian cyclists in the Bekaa last week, as well as those behind the church bombing in Zahle on Sunday.

He stressed that the “security and maintaining civil peace and Lebanon’s external image are red lines” that should not be crossed, urging security and military officials to take strict measures with anyone violating them.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati was reportedly planning to propose a 24-member draft cabinet lineup to President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday but was pressured by the March 8 forces not to make such a move.

An Nahar daily said Wednesday that the lineup was divided as follows:

President Michel Suleiman has telephoned his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, several times to express Lebanon’s support for his regime, Baabda palace sources told As Safir daily.

The sources said in remarks published Wednesday that Suleiman stressed to Assad during several telephone conversations that “Lebanon stands by Syria against any plot that threatens its security, stability and patriotic choices.”

Former minister Mario Aoun stressed on Tuesday that he described Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s remark on Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud as “unprecedented” but not “irresponsible.”

“I didn’t say it was irresponsible,” Aoun told Voice of Lebanon radio station. “It is unprecedented … We haven’t gotten used to such remarks from a high religious authority.”

Premier-designate Najib Miqati is expected to visit President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday and propose to him a de facto cabinet lineup, former Prime Minister Omar Karami’s sources told As Safir daily.

They said the draft lineup does not include the name of Faisal Omar Karami. According to the sources, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun is not aware of it and Hizbullah has already informed Miqati that it rejects a cabinet that doesn’t include Karami.